nominal 1 of 2

adjective

ˈnä-mə-nᵊl How to pronounce nominal (audio)
Definition of nominalnext
1
as in titular
being something in name or form only he was the nominal head of state—everyone knew the country was actually run by one of his advisers

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in slight
so small or unimportant as to warrant little or no attention when you pay $400 for an airline ticket, a ticketing fee of five dollars seems nominal

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

nominal

2 of 2

noun

as in substantive

Related Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of nominal
Adjective
From engine ignition through solar array deployment on the spacecraft, the Progress 96 launch was completely nominal. — Mike Wall, Space.com, 16 Sep. 2026 Orin Snyder said nominal rent is common at Exposition Park, citing the Natural History Museum’s $1-per-year lease. — Jessica Gelt, Los Angeles Times, 9 Sep. 2026 For a nominal sum, the paper each day serves up authoritative accounts of sports events that occurred as much as a day earlier, give or take. — The New Yorker, New Yorker, 7 Sep. 2026 The creditor will still have to fork over hard cash to pay for the costs of the auction (which is usually nominal) as well as to compensate the debtor for any exemption value of that asset. — Jay Adkisson, Forbes.com, 30 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for nominal
Recent Examples of Synonyms for nominal
  1. titular
  2. slight
  3. substantive
  4. negligible
  5. tiny
  6. petty
Adjective
  • The titular character, played by Matthew Gray Gubler, is not the famous and iconic physicist, but his grandson, Lewis.
    — Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 8 Oct. 2026
  • Tom Rhys Harries plays the titular character, also known as Matt Hagen.
    — Payton Turkeltaub, Variety, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of titular
Adjective
  • Valadao, a Republican from Hanford, has won the seat in six of the last seven elections despite the district’s slight Democratic tilt.
    — Mathew Miranda, Sacbee.com, 7 Oct. 2026
  • In their paper from September, Minzer and his colleagues proved a slight variant of Khot’s second conjecture that has nearly the same consequences.
    — Quanta Magazine, Quanta Magazine, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of slight
Noun
  • With his substantive, agreeably granular bass, David Grogan gave prophetic warnings real authority.
    — Dallas News, Dallas News, 23 Dec. 2022
  • California’s climate agenda mixes the symbolic with the substantive.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 17 Nov. 2022
Definition of substantive
Adjective
  • The effect is likely to be negligible for big trucking companies because the order is on a federal level and states make their own rules, Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, wrote in a social media post.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 7 Oct. 2026
  • Lead author Allen Sirolly said the measure fell to a negligible amount by April 2026.
    — Davis Giangiulio,Ananya Chetia, CNBC, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of negligible
Adjective
  • Crowdsourcing the follow-up work — developing gene therapies or treatments — might prove beyond the scope of this tiny community.
    — Deepa Fernandes, STAT, 8 Oct. 2026
  • Radioactive beta particles strike the fibers and trigger tiny pulses of light.
    — Aman Tripathi, Interesting Engineering, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of tiny
Adjective
  • Stanley’s co-defendant, unsuccessful county commissioner candidate and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools bus driver Heather Morrow, was found guilty of the petty offenses and the misdemeanor assault charge.
    — Julia Coin, Charlotte Observer, 7 Oct. 2026
  • Letts makes the most of his brief screen time as a manipulator whose petty genius lies in creating an artificial scarcity for his affections.
    — Inkoo Kang, New Yorker, 1 Oct. 2026
Definition of petty

Browse Nearby Words

nomenclatures
nominal
nominally
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Nominal.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nominal. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of inscrutable

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

The Words of the Week - Oct. 9

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
a cup of tea and a golf ball on tee side by side
Quiz: Sounds Like... Choose the word that sounds like it fits the clue...
See All